Adjustable ratchet-action wrench



July 23, 1957 NEFF 2,800,044

ADJUSTABLE RATCHET-ACTION WRENCH Filed May 26, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet INVE/VZ'OR July23, 1957 T. NEFF ADJUSTABLE RATCHET-ACTION WRENCH Fiied ma 26, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ADJUSTABLE RATCHET-ACTION wnENeH Ted Naif, Olympia, Wash. Application May 26, 1955, Serial No. 511,314

3 Claims. or. 01-01 This invention relates to an adjustable, ratchet-action hand wrench for use in turning nuts, bolts, pipes, tubes, and similar objects.

The general purpose of the invention is to provide a wrench that will adjust quickly and easily to various objects to be turned, and which can turn the objects with a ratchet-like movement without removing the wrench from the objects.

Presently, there are certain deficiencies in conventional adjustable wrenches of the type referred to. For exam ple, the necessity for removing and resetting a wrench to the work after each partial rotation is tedious and time consuming, especially in restricted spaces, and also in those cases where the object being turned offers resistance during the entire operation; the adjusting knob located near the jaws at the throat of the wrench is sometimes hard to reach and turn, will not adjust the jaws snugly and exactly due to the excessive clearance necessary to operate it with the fingers, has a tendency to jam, and can easily accumulate grease, dirt, and other foreign matter; certain of the adjustable wrenches have unwieldy projections extending from the body of the wrench; the threads and adjusting mechanism are exposed; and the present conventional pipe wrenches must have the upper jaw held in place with one hand while the other hand applies pressure to the handle before the jaws will grip the work. Further, a suitable ratchet action is not available in the present conventional adjustable wrenches.

Among the more specific objects of the invention, in view of the deficiencies which have heretofore persisted in conventional adjustable wrenches, are to provide a wrench that can be adjusted easily and quickly to the object to be turned; a means within the wrench that will permit a ratchet-like movement while turning an object so that the wrench does not have to be removed and reset to the work in order to obtain a new grip; a means that will provide a better, more exact adjustment of the Wrench jaws, which will not jam easily and is entirely enclosed within the wrench so that grease, dirt, and other foreign matter will not foul its operating parts; to locate the adjusing knob in a more accessible location so that the wrench can be adjusted without difficulty in restricted spaces; to provide a wrench whose jaws are self-engaging and self-releasing when alternate forward and backward motions are applied to the wrench; and, in a single Wren-ch having all of the above advantages, to eliminate any exposed projections.

Other objects will appear from the following description, the claims appended thereto, and from the annexed drawings in which like reference characters designate like parts throughout the several views and wherein:

Figure l is an elevation of one side of a pipe wrench comprising the invention.

Figure 2 is an elevation partly in section as viewed from the front, or object-engaging side of the wrench.

Figure 3 is a longitudinal section, partly in elevation, of the pipe wrench shown in Fig. 1.

Figure 4 is an elevation, partly in longitudinal section,

Patented July 23, 1957 and shows the invention in the form of a mechanics wrench.

Figure 5 is an elevation of the wrench of Fig. 4, but shows the position of the various parts at the end of a ratcheting stroke of the handle.

In Figures 1, 2 and 3, a pipe wrench is generally designated at 7 and is shown with a body 8 which encloses the lower portion of a head 10 and the upper end of a shaft 44, and with a handle 26 attached to the lower portion of the body 8 as a means for operating the wrench. Formed as a part of the head 10 is an upper pipe-engaging jaw 12, and on the upper left or forward portion of the body 8 there is located a lower pipe-engaging jaw 14, the gap between the two jaws admitting an object to be turned. Figs. 4 and 5 show a modified head 10' having planar nut-engaging jaws 12 and 14' which correspond to the pipe-engaging jaws 12 and 14 in Figs. 1-3.

Inwardly, toward the centerline of the body 8, there is an upwardly extending portion 16 on the body 8 having an edge 18 at an upwardly inclined angle in relation to the engaging surface of the lower jaw 14. The top edge 20 of the portion 16 is curved backward and downward to rejoin the body 8. The projecting portion thus formed provides a stop to correctly position the object being turned, and prevents said object from entering too far into the jaw gap.

Beneath the right or inner side of the jaw 14, approximately on the center line of the wrench, there are shown two vertically extending, transversely aligned guide slots 22 in the wrench body 8. In the guide slots 22 there are located two cylindrically shaped projections or guide arms 24 extending outwardly in opposite directions from each side of the lower concealed portion of the head 10. The guide arms 24 act as an upper pivot point and guide for the head 10, and are free to pivot and move vertically in the guide slots 22.

At the lower end of the wrench body 8, the handle assembly 25 is attached to the body 8 by means of two curved portions 28 forming a yoke and extending upwardly from the upper end of the handle 26 on opposite sides of the handle. The curved extending portions 28 are connected to the wrench body 8 by means of two bearing openings 32 engaging over two oppositely projecting, transversely aligned trunnions 34 which are screwthreaded into opposite sides of the wrench body 8.

At the lower end of the handle 26 there is an adjusting knob 36 formed as a continuation of the handle 26, but independently attached to turn separately as the handle 26 remains stationary, said adjusting knob 36 being used to raise and lower the head 10 containing the upper jaw 12.

In Figures 3 and 4 there are shown the inner parts and general construction features of the pipe-engaging and nut-engaging wrenches, respectively. On the lower end of head 10 there are shown two bearing openings 40 fitting on a pin 42 providing two coaxial trunnions which extend outwardly from each side of a fiat upper end 46 of the shaft 44, thus forming a freely pivoting connection between the head 10 and the shaft 44. The flat upper portion 46 of the shaft 44 is, in this case, converted from cylindrical in shape to rectangular in cross section, and extends upwardly at an angle to connect with the lower end of the head 10 as previously described. The flat portion 46 of the shaft 44 is of substantially less thickness than width and fits into a crank-shaped yoke formed on the lower end of the head 10, said yoke being formed by two downwardly extending legs 48 or 48', the latter being formed on the modified head 10' shown in Figs. 4 and 5.

Underneath the lower right or rear side of the body 8 is shown an opening or bore 50 of circular cross section extending upwardly into the solid portion of the body 8.

a turning movement to the handle. The more the pressure applied in the turning direction, the tighter the jaws grip theobject'being turned. I

will remain in a minimum gap position while the gap is I being adjusted to fit over an object, and will return to the minimum gap position during the ratchet-like move-- merit.

The cylindrical portion of the shaft 44 extends downwardly into'a channel or bore 56 of circular cross section formed in the handle 26, said channel 56 extending longitndinally the entire length of the handle 26, and having a diameter sufficiently large-to permit-the shaft 44 to move freely upward and downward therein. The lower end of the shaft 44 is screw-threaded to fit into a threaded recess in an adjusting sleeve 58to a depth which will allow full adjustment of the wrench to the desired jaw capacity without disengaging the shaft 44 from the sleeve '58.

At the lower end of the adjusting sleeve 58 a reduced portion-60 extends beyond the lower end of the handle 26.

the shaft 44 upward and downward.

The ratchet-like movement of the wrench is obtained by placing the jaws over an object to be turned, making the proper adjustment of the head 10, and turning the wrench in the desired direction.

26 pivots slightly on the trunnions 34. At the same time, the object being turned-isreleasedby. thejaws 12 and 14 as the upper jaw 12 begins to move upward and backward with the head 10, and the lower iaw 14 with the projecting portion l6 begins to slide around the object being turned. 'The upward and backward motion of the head.

10 is accomplished by the combined action obtained through the three pivot points at 24, 42, and 34. The upper end of the shaft 44 moves forward as the shaft 44 pivots with the handle 26 on the lower trunnions 34 when the handle 26 is moved backward, thus swinging the crank-shaped yoke at the lower end of the head 10 forwardly, the head 10 and the shaft 44 pivoting on the axis of the trunnions 42. This action in turn causes the trunnions 24 to pivot and move upward in the guide slots 22, thus impairing the upward and backward motion to the upper portion of the head 10 containing the upper jaw 12. Afterwards, the combined action of the compressed spring 54, the re-application of a forward or turning movement to the handle 26, and the pressure of the object being turned on the lower jaw 14 at its olfcenter, forward location in relation to the lower pivot point, automatically causes the procedure described above to operate in reverse and to return the jaws to their minimum gap position so as to obtain a fresh grip on the object being turned.

Figure shows the relative position of the Wrench parts at the extremity of the backward swing of the wrench handle. When used as a pipe wrench, the pivoting action of the parts can be much less than that shown in Figure 5 since there are no projecting corners to clear as on a nut or bolt.

It will be understood that the wrench described herein can be constructed of any material of suitable strength, preferably steel, can be adapted for use on variously shaped objects such as nuts, bolts, pipes, tubes or the like by adapting the jaws for the use intended. The principles of construction are very simple and can be utilized in either a pipe wrench (Figs. 1-3) or a mechanical wrench (Figs. 4 and 5) for nuts and bolts. When used as either type of wrench, the jaws grip, release, and regrip automatically with the application and reversal of When the handle 26 is moved backward in the opposite direction, the handle The adjustingknob 36 is-attached to the end of the reduced portion 60 for turning the sleeve 58 to adjust handle further including an adjusting sleeve for adjusting I said shaft and head upward and downward; whereby the It will be further understood that the invention is not necessarily confined to the specific use or uses thereof described above since it may beutilized for any purpose to which it may be suited. necessarily limited to the specific construction illustrated and described, since such construction is only intended to be illustrative.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new anddesired to be secured by Letters Patent is:.

1. A wrench of the character described comprising a head formed at one end with an upper object-engaging surface or jaw; a body formed at oneend with a lower 'objccbengaging surface or jaw, said body including a projecting portion extending upwardly from an inner side of. said jaw, an opposite end of said body containing a recess, and means for attaching a handle to the body; a

handle pivotally connected to said means by two transverselycoax-ial bearing openings, said handle containing a recess confronting said recess in said body, a spring compressed into said recesses, said handle having a bore extending t-herethrough, a shaft in said bore, said shaft being pivotally connected to a lower end of the head, said wrench can be operated so as to have a ratchet-like movement on anobject being turned,

of said head for relative movement about a middle pivot, said shaft extendingdownwardly into said handle; means slidably and pivotally connecting saidbody and said'head for relative movement about an upper pivot; a rotatable part engaging a threaded-portion of said shaft; a turning knob attached to an end of said rotatable part; a spring connected to said body and said handle, said spring biasing said body and said handle against relative swinging movement in one direction around said lower pivot; said shaft and said handle pivoting as a unit about said lower pivot, so that a backward swing of the handle against the bias of said spring will cause the head, through a resultant action of the upper and middle pivots, to move upward and backward from its object-gripping position to such an extent that the wrench will slip around an object to obtain a new grip without removal of said Wrench, the head returning to the object-gripping position when the swinging direction of the handle is reversed, said spring between the body and handle assisting the reverse pivot action, thus permitting a ratchet-like movement of the wrench on an object being turned.

3. In a wrench of the adjustable type used for turning pipes, nuts, bolts, or similar objects; a means whereby the wrench can be operated so as to have a ratchet-like movement during the turning operation, said means comprising a crank-shaped head having an object-engaging surface or jaw cooperating with a second jaw on the body of the wrench, coaxial trunnions extending outwardly from opposite sides of said head, said trunnions pivotally and slidably fitting into guide slots on the body of the wrench for relative movement about an upper pivot, a shaft pivotally connected to the lower end of said head for relative movement about a middle pivot, a handle pivotally connected to the body of said wrench for relative movement about a lower pivot, said shaft extending downwardly into the handle, said shaft and said handle pivoting as a unit about said lower pivot so that a backward swing of the handle will cause the head to slide upward and pivot backward from its object-gripping position to such an extent that the wrench will slip around an Nor is the invention to be 2. A wrench of the character described, comprising a head having an object-engaging surface; a body having another object-engaging surface; a handle pivotally connected to said body for relative swinging movement about.

a lower pivot; a shaft pivotally connected to a lower end 5 object of hexagonal or circular shape during the turning operation, and the head, assisted by a spring, will return to the object-gripping position without removal of the wrench.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 463,784 Buzzell Nov. 24, 1891 6 Metcalfe Tune 30, 18 96 Boyton Apr. 23, 1907 Logan Feb. 16, 1926 Lindquist Sept. 4, 1928 Briles Oct. 1, 1935 Boos Dec. 8, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain May 22, 1936 

